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SSU WBB picked to finish fourth in River States Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll
Posted: Oct 11, 2024

SSU WBB picked to finish fourth in River States Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- Coming off of a campaign that saw Shawnee State obtain its first 20-win season in four years, the women's basketball program at Shawnee State was selected to finish fourth in the River States Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll, as the Bears grabbed 97 points in a poll that was released by conference officials Friday morning.

Poll Rundown

In nabbing its 97-point total, Shawnee State is one of four teams at the top who are separated by just 22 points in what is projected to be a tight race inside the RSC. Rio Grande is projected to win the River States Conference Championship for a fourth consecutive year as the RedStorm tallied 119 points and 10 first-place votes to lead the poll, but Oakland City is right on Rio's heels as the Mighty Oaks sit just 10 points back of the RedStorm and hold two first-place votes themselves.

Following Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, who is just 10 points back of the runner-up spot at 99 points and sits third, SSU sits ready to pounce in fourth.

Behind the Bears, Midway, Ky.'s 73 markers, Indiana-East's 63 pulls, Alice Lloyd, Ky.'s 60 tallies, Indiana-Southeast's 57 notches and Indiana-Kokomo's 40 collections make up the teams who garnered 40 or more points in the poll as the five teams make up the fifth through ninth spots in the preseason ranking.

West Virginia Tech (33), Brescia, Ky. (29) and Indiana-Columbus (13) round out the preseason poll.

Team Highlights

Shawnee State has an excellent opportunity to outperform its River States Conference Preseason ranking -- as the Bears return six of their top seven scorers, seven of its top eight rebounders and each of its top four leaders in the steals column from the 2023-24 season.

In addition to returning Lexi Deaver, Cianna Gloster, Sanaya Gregory, Markayla Holland, Amiya Latham and Jariah Steele, the Bears also return talented three-and-D contributor Emily Maynard while Jada Johnson, who started 24 games during Shawnee State's run to the Mid-South Conference Championship Game in 2023, and Bella Thornburg, who is a 6-4 talent that adds much-needed size in the post, return after both players missed the entire 2023-24 season due to injury.

The following were the averages of the returnees during the 2023-24 season:

  • Markayla Holland (12.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 steals, one block, 41.2 percent shooting)
  • Cianna Gloster (12.4 rebounds, 11.7 points, 2.7 steals, 1.4 blocks, 57.1 percent shooting)
  • Lexi Deaver (7.5 points, 33.8 percent three-point percentage)
  • Sanaya Gregory (7.5 points, 2.7 assists, 1.6 steals)
  • Jariah Steele (7.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.1 steals)
  • Amiya Latham (5.7 points, 34.5 percent three-point percentage)
  • Emily Maynard (3.7 points)

Jada Johnson brings back 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds of production from the 2022-23 campaign to the current Shawnee State roster.

In addition to the nine total returnees, the women's basketball program has added seven newcomers, including Laken Williams, Miyoshi Ellis, Jonilyah Chambers, Addison Edmondson, Lauren Hawthorne, Molly Howard, and Jaden Tucker.

Of the seven incoming players, Williams (Martin County High School), Edmondson (Trimble County High School) and Howard (Elliott County High School) played at high schools in Kentucky while Chambers (Huber Heights Wayne) and Tucker (Pickerington Central) hail from the Buckeye State.

Hawthorne, another player who prepped in the Bluegrass State at Conner High School, is a transfer from NCAA Division II Purdue-Northwest in Indiana while Ellis, who originally hails from the famed New York City suburb of Harlem, played two years of junior college basketball at Union (N.J.).